The Bay

Vineyard workers already have hard jobs that usually don’t pay high wages. And as wildfire season increasingly overlaps with harvest season, their work has gotten even more dangerous.Now, advocates and farmworkers in Sonoma County are demanding that wine businesses provide stronger protections for the laborers who make the industry possible in the first place.Guest: Nashelly Chavez, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion reporter for the Press DemocratFollow The Bay to hear more local Bay Area stories like this one. New episodes are released Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 a.m. Find The Bay on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, NPR One or via Alexa.This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Currently, there's little stopping a police officer accused of serious misconduct from simply resigning and moving to a new department.But that's about to change. The Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2021, named after a Black man who was shot in the back by an exonerated Gardena Police Officer in 2018, makes it possible for the state to strip bad cops of their badges so they are barred from working in law enforcement for good.Guest: Sukey Lewis, KQED criminal justice reporter and host of On Our WatchThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The news about COVID-19 booster shots has been confusing. In mid-August, President Biden announced that a COVID-19 booster shot would roll out to all eligible U.S. residents starting the week of Sept. 20. But then, amid disagreement among federal health officials, that plan was scaled back.Now, the federal government is recommending that some people get a third shot. Today, we break down who is eligible, and how to get one.Read more about the COVID vaccine rollout and information on how to get a COVID booster shot. Guest: Carly Severn, KQED senior engagement editor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since July, at least 2,000 refugees from Afghanistan have arrived in California, with most settling in Northern California and the Bay Area.Since the Taliban took over Kabul in mid-August, the pace of resettlement has ramped up, and many of the people supporting newly arrived refugees come from already-established communities of Afghan Americans in the Bay — who know what it means to be displaced and start anew.  Guest: Tyche Hendricks, KQED immigration senior editorClick here to find more information about Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay's efforts to help resettle newly arrived Afghan refugees.This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Adhiti Bandlamudi, edited by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California’s eviction moratorium is set to expire tomorrow, September 30. But in many parts of the Bay, Latino immigrant tenants have still been getting evicted by their landlords.That’s because protections on paper haven’t necessarily added up to protections in practice, as many renters have not been made aware of their rights and face barriers to receiving rental assistance.Guest: Madeleine Bair, founding director of El TímpanoEpisode transcript: https://bit.ly/3F3jQTWThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Adhiti Bandlamudi, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Translation assistance was provided by Madeleine Bair and Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, with additional editorial and production help from Erika Kelly, Erin Baldassari, and Molly Solomon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wineries have been affected by heat, drought and wildfires. Many have seen lower yields and have even lost grapes. But winemakers are also adapting, and finding creative ways to make sure their livelihoods continue.Today, we follow two wineries in the North Bay and learn how they're experiencing and adapting to climate change.Guest: Ezra David Romero, KQED climate reporterEpisode transcript: https://bit.ly/3zQBiXDThis episode was produced by Alan Montecillo and Mary Franklin Harvin, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two days after the recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 9, which effectively ends single-family zoning in California. The law is part of a larger effort to increase the supply of housing, at a time when prices are at an all-time high and rents remain unaffordable for many people.Guest: Erika Kelly, senior editor of KQED’s housing affordability deskEpisode transcript: https://bit.ly/2W84lZ0This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Mary Franklin Harvin, and hosted by Alan Montecillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oakland Unified’s Board of Education is considering a proposal that would require all students 12 and older to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Some say it’s a necessary step to make schools safer, while others worry that it will create another barrier to in-person learning.The resolution could be voted on as early as tonight, and if passed, OUSD would become the first district in Northern California to mandate vaccines for students.OUSD's Board of Education meeting today starts at 4 p.m.Guest: Vanessa Rancaño, KQED education reporterEpisode transcript: https://bit.ly/3CBwLKx Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Mountain View, residents of mobile home parks are on the verge of winning protections under the city’s rent control law — which they have been excluded from so far. But in this expensive Silicon Valley city, the political fight about rent control in mobile homes is far from over. Guest: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED Silicon Valley reporterEpisode transcript: https://bit.ly/2XHJcWu This episode was produced by Christopher Beale and Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and hosted by Alan Montecillo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most Bay Area residents rely on water that travels a long way to get here. And as we experience another drought, it’s more important than ever to understand how our water works, especially in our different local communities.Today, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at Bay Curious. This is one episode in their six-part series on drought.Episode transcript Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices